GOP candidate for NC governor blasts public spending as his family nonprofit rakes in taxpayer funds

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and BILL BARROW
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his bid to become North Carolina’s first Black governor, Republican Mark Robinson assails government safety net spending as a “plantation of welfare and victimhood” that’s mired Black people in “dependency” and poverty. But the firebrand lieutenant governor’s political rise wouldn’t have been possible without it. Robinson’s household has relied on income from Balanced Nutrition, a nonprofit founded by his wife that administers a free lunch program for children. Balanced Nutrition is funded entirely by taxpayers. Tax filings and state documents show Balanced Nutrition has collected $7 million in government funding since 2017 while paying out $830,000 in salaries to Robinson, his wife and four relatives. A campaign spokesman defends Balance Nutrition’s work.